1797 Batavian Republic constitutional referendum

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A referendum on the constitution of the Batavian Republic was held on August 8, 1797. The draft constitution was rejected, eventually culminating in a coup d'état.

Background

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Following the French Revolution, the Patriots brought an end to the rule of stadtholder William V in the Dutch Republic, with support from the French army.[1] They proclaimed the Batavian Republic, and established the National Assembly to draft a constitution, which would be put to a referendum. Its members disagreed about the extent of suffrage and about whether to organise the republic as a federal or unitary state. The Patriots had originally supported a federal state with autonomy for the provinces, but some wanted to emulate the unitary model of the French First Republic with a strong central government.[2] After two years of debate, a draft constitution with compromises was completed on May 10, 1797.[3]

Results

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Official results[4][a]
Choice Votes %
For 27,955 20.45
Against 108,761 79.55
Total 136,716 100
Registered voters/turnout ~400,000 –

Aftermath

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The draft constitution had been rejected by almost eighty percent, which meant that a new Constitution would have to be drafted. In the elections for the National Assembly a few months later, the supporters of a unitary state won the majority, but the supporters of a federal state retained the majority in the constitutional commission. Meanwhile, in France, the radicals led by Pierre Augereau had seized power. With French help, the radical unitarists staged a coup d'état in January 1798. A new draft constitution, establishing a unitary republic, was quickly adopted in the National Assembly. The Constitution for the Batavian People was approved in a referendum on April 23, 1798.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Habben Jansen, Eddy (2021). Nederlandse politiek voor Dummies [Dutch politics for dummies] (in Dutch) (2nd ed.). Amersfoort: BBNC Uitgevers. p. 41. ISBN 978-90-453-5791-1.
  2. ^ a b Slotboom, Ruud; Verkuil, Dik (2010). De Nederlandse politiek in een notendop [Dutch politics in a nutshell] (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-90-351-3561-1.
  3. ^ Paul Bordewijk (2003-09-15). "Referendum Europese Grondwet had omineuze voorganger" (in Dutch). de Volkskrant. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  4. ^ http://www.sudd.ch/event.php?lang=en&id=nl011797

Notes

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  1. ^ The official result differs slightly from the actual result due to counting errors and the late receipt of some changes. The actual result is 27,941 votes in favor and 108,854 votes against.

Further reading

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  • Jos de Jong (1 November 2018), Democratie in kinderschoenen: twee referenda over de eerste Nederlandse grondwet, 1797-1798 (in Dutch), hdl:1887/67081, Wikidata Q131918833